Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the National Urban League annual conference, Thursday, July 25, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke

AUSTIN – Texas congressional Democrats are calling on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to stop Texas’ proposed rules for Obamacare navigators that they say impose “abritrary, burdensome and discriminatory restrictions” on those working to help citizens purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

In a joint letter sent Thursday, Democrats including Reps. Joaquin Castro, Gene Green and Sheila Jackson Lee asked the Justice Department to “initiate legal proceedings seeking to enjoin and declare invalid regulations” proposed by the Texas Department of Insurance to regulate navigators operating under the Affordable Care Act.

“The state of Texas could have established its own health insurance exchange but refused due to the opposition of its governor and other state officials,” the letter said.

“Given this refusal and opposition to the [Affordable Care Act], it appears clear to us that the dominant, indeed exclusive, purpose of the regulations proposed by the TDI is to sabotage and impede the successful implementation of the health care law,” the letter said.

Gov. Rick Perry – a staunch Obamacare opponent – instructed Texas Department of Insurance Commissioner Julia Rathgeber in September to adopt additional rules to oversee navigators, saying they were needed to protect Texans and their confidential information, including birth dates, Social Security numbers and financial information.

The proposed rules would require health care navigators to receive an additional 40 hours of training on top of the 20 to 30 hours required by federal law. The rules would require navigators hired by local organizations through a federal grant to take an additional 40 hours of training on Medicaid rules, ethics and privacy.

ACA navigators also would pay training fees of up to $800, an additional $120 for six hours of continued education, plus a $50 registration fee. They also would have to undergo a criminal background check and a fingerprinting process that could cost up to $62, prove their U.S. citizenship, and provide documentation of their educational credentials.

State rules for navigators for other federal benefits are less stringent.